Chapter 214
The wind sliced through the trees like a knife, whistling secrets into the night as I crouched low behind a thick patch of brush. My breath fanned out in clouds, fogging the vision for a heartbeat before vanishing like the lies we’d been trying to unravel.
It had been weeks since the cave discovery. Weeks of covert meetings, subtle interrogations, and sleepless nights combing through every inch of the forest and the fringes of the pack. The traitors had been smart, careful. They didn’t leave obvious clues. They didn’t speak in whispers. They acted like us, walked like us, even laughed like us. But I’d learned to see past the masks.
The final breakthrough came from a minor detail—something most would’ve overlooked. Fatima had stumbled across it while cleaning out the old archives near the Pack Hall. It was an outdated patrol map—one that no longer aligned with the current schedule. It marked certain areas as “safe zones” that no longer existed. I wouldn’t have thought much of it… until I compared it to the locations of the sabotage signs we’d uncovered.
Each spot matched one of the outdated safe zones.
Sophie and I marked them on a fresh map, red pins stabbing through parchment like daggers. One by one, we followed them. And each time, I found the faintest evidence—crushed grass, disturbed soil, even a torn piece of fabric caught on brambles, reeking of foreign scent disguised under wolf musk.
It wasn’t until I began shadowing the night patrols that I started catching the odd behavior.
Beta Darius. Loyal, confident… too confident. He always had answers before anyone asked questions.
Luna’s niece, Karina—sweet, soft-spoken, but always conveniently near every disaster.
Evan, one of the lesser guards, frequently “injured” or “sick” during key moments.
And two others—marginal wolves, often overlooked. Too quiet. Too invisible.
I documented their movements in a private journal, carefully coded in an old hunter's dialect I’d learned from my father. Not even Sophie or Fatima saw the full thing.
But I knew I needed proof. Hard evidence.
So I baited them.
I sent false information into the pack gossip stream. A whisper here, a confidential meeting there. Told one of the scouts—who I trusted with my life—that a rare artifact of magical defense was hidden in the east ravine.
The very next night, the ravine had fresh footprints. Multiple sets. Human and wolf. It was confirmed.
I wasn’t just hunting shadows anymore. I had names.
I called a meeting with Jake.
It was just us, under the veil of moonlight inside the war room beneath the main pack house.
I laid out my journal, the map, and even pulled out the bloodied scrap of Karina’s scarf I’d found. His golden eyes scanned everything, tension growing in his jaw. When I was done speaking, there was silence—long, heavy.
Then he looked at me with something that made my chest ache.
Pride. Raw, unfiltered pride.
“You hunted them without a scent trail,” he murmured. “You trapped wolves smarter than most Alphas. Ayla… my mate, my fierce, brilliant mate.”
He moved around the table and cupped my face in his hands. “You’ve done what even I couldn’t. You’ve protected our pack from the inside out.”
“I’m not done,” I whispered. “I want them caught. But not exposed. Not yet.”
Jake nodded. “We move tonight. Silent. Swift. You lead.”
I did.
We split into teams. Sophie and I shadowed Karina and Darius, while Jake, Fatima, and two trusted guards tracked the others. Using a combination of flash smoke and scent-disguising herbs I’d learned from Fatima’s wilderness kits, we flushed them out one by one.
Karina was the first to fall. Caught sneaking out with a satchel full of scrolls she didn’t realize I had replaced with forgeries. Her face crumpled when she saw me standing in the clearing with Jake at my side.
Darius tried to run. It took a tranquilizer arrow through his thigh and Jake personally dragging him back in chains.
Each traitor had their moment of reckoning. Each confessed. Some broke down in tears. Others spit venom. But they all confirmed the same chilling truth:
The plan had started within. Encouraged by whispers of new leadership. Promises of power and alliance with something darker beyond the forest.
And the scariest part? They believed they were doing it for the pack’s good.
The underground cells echoed with quiet sobs and the occasional clink of chains. Five traitors. Five wolves who had stood beside us during ceremonies, hunts, celebrations. Now shackled, stripped of rank, and awaiting judgment.
The council had been called.
But I didn’t wait for them.
The next morning, I stood at the front of the Gathering Hall, Jake by my side. Our people watched from every angle—shoulders tense, hearts trembling. They had heard rumors. They had seen the arrests. Now, they waited for answers.
Jake let me speak first.
“Loyal wolves,” I began, my voice steady despite the storm inside me, “we’ve faced external threats. Rogue packs. Witches. Monsters in the dark. But what we uncovered… was far worse. It came from within.”
Gasps. Whispers.
“These wolves,” I motioned toward the center where the five traitors were restrained, “believed our pack needed change. That we were weak. Vulnerable. So they made contact with enemies of the Moon Guard. They sabotaged defenses. Fed information. Planted false clues to lead us astray.”
Karina looked away, unable to meet the eyes of the very people who once called her sister.
“But they were wrong.” My voice sharpened. “This pack is not weak. We endure. We defend our own. And we cleanse our wounds before they fester.”
I turned to Jake.
He raised his hand. “Let it be known. Betrayal will never be tolerated. Today, judgment is passed not by vengeance, but by survival law.”
We offered choices.
Exile… or redemption through blood oath and permanent rank stripping.
Three chose exile, tails between their legs as they were escorted out. Karina and Evan chose the oath, weeping as their wrists were marked with the ancient burn of loyalty magic—a painful reminder of their decision, one that would glow if betrayal ever crossed their minds again.
Later, in our private quarters, Jake turned to me.
“I’ve never seen anything like what you did,” he said quietly, his hand resting on my growing belly. “You found them. You planned the operation. You held the pack steady through the storm.”
“I had help,” I said, brushing hair behind my ear.
He shook his head. “You led. And one day, our child will know their mother protected their future before they were even born.”
Tears burned behind my eyes.
“I just want us to be safe,” I whispered.
“We are. Because of you.”
Outside, the pack howled—not in mourning, but in unity. The traitors were gone. The rot removed. And as the moon bathed our home in silver light, I knew this wasn’t the end.
But it was a beginning.
A new era of vigilance. Of leadership.
And I would lead it—with Jake, our unborn child, and a heart that no longer feared shadows in the dark.
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